Captain Swan Drabbles
by lonelyiridescence
Summary: A collection of Hook/Emma drabbles. Mostly snapshots of Captain Swan moments.
1. I Chose Her

"Who was it who bested you?" the words were cool, deceptively curious.

He stared her down, jaw stiff as the rain slid off the hard edge. He was rarely the one who lost, rarely the one who admitted defeat. But his mind jumped to defiant blue eyes as he offered an open hand. She stared him down an equal, something he was not used to. Something that was so unique it—of all the damned things intrigued him.

But he did not lose. She could have this round. But it was a grave mistake when she crossed him, and she would lose more in the long run.

He averted his gaze and stared hard at the ground, taking a breath, "…The Swan girl—Emma."

The compulsory need to correct himself caught him by surprise. He continued quickly, "Rest assured it will not happen again."

But his slip hadn't slipped past her. Cora's eyes lit up with wicked smugness, "No it won't."

Her voice suddenly dropped to a deadly seriousness, slight anger coloring the words, "_You chose her_."

He didn't process her threat as his mind began to race.

He chose her? He chose to hunt her down. He chose to make her pay for every complication and every minute he had to spend in internal hell, sitting in wait for a way to finally have his revenge. He chose to hate her.

But every time she had looked at him with that careful defiance. In those eyes he saw a person who was broken again and again by demons that haunted her. In those eyes he saw self-hatred and insecurity. In those eyes he saw himself.

It only made sense that she had bested him, because the only person who could was someone who knew how he ticked.

He chose to inexplicably trust her. And he chose to seek her out again, whatever his reasons were.

_I chose her._

His gaze snapped up and he stared Cora down, "Oh? Are you going to kill me now?"

Her eyes sparked with anger.

He raised his voice in a dare, "Go ahead. Try."

He chose Emma.


	2. Into the Deep: Drabble Response 1

NO.

No. no. His last chance. His last chance to get to that bloody _fucking_ crocodile.

He wasn't stranded. He couldn't be stranded.

Milah. Milah.

He pulled his face from the damp earth, cringing as his hook scraped a small rift in the ground beside his face.

He was where he was supposed to be. In the dirt. With the worst of them.

_Milah. I'm so sorry._

He already couldn't remember what her smile looked like. What her scent was. How she felt in his arms.

Revenge sharpened the blade of his memory. And it wasn't failure that dulled it.

It was the Swan girl— Emma.

_Milah. I'm sorry._


	3. Into the Deep: Drabble Response 2

He watched Aurora hurry from the room with her cloak billowing behind her. His apparent doom didn't seem to bother him as much as he'd like it to. Did this mean he actually cared? He didn't want to know.

Martyrdom wasn't a path he'd ever considered walking. But he reminded himself he wouldn't be. He made a promise.

And Killian Jones didn't make promises lightly.

He would help her find that dust. He would help her get home.

And so he had to live.

And he couldn't imagine why this mattered to him in the first place. Seeing her again.

He knew her smile well. Her eyes were sky blue. She was soft in his arms.

He watched Aurora leave and smiled to himself. Of course he would find her.

_Keep her safe, my dear. At least until I get there._


	4. Into the Deep: Drabble Response 3

"I think he cares for you."

She froze, breath cut short as she stared at Aurora.

Great.

He cared. Her thoughts rammed themselves against one another in conflicting agony.

He couldn't. Of course he didn't the sneaky fucking pirate. Next thing she knew he would be on her doorstep telling her that he forgave her and wanted to work with her and everything would be rainbows.

No she wasn't that stupid. But somewhere in her she wanted to believe it was true. She was so tired of running all the time. In fact she'd brought this uncertainty on herself.

She should have killed his sorry ass on top of that beanstalk.

But maybe… if he was even capable of it.

Maybe she would try the little thing called trust.

* * *

"I think he cares for you."

His head snapped up as he stared at Cora.

_What?_

He hadn't told her to say that.

Emma was smart. She wouldn't believe that. That ridiculous woman might have just oversold it by underestimating Emma's common sense. She wouldn't believe it.

Something in the back of his mind told him he wanted her to believe it. That she would be stricken. That she wanted that to be true.

What was happening to him.

Whatever it was, it was a weakness. And he had to hide it well or he would suffer.

She was his weakness


	5. Captain Swan Prompt 1

**Prompt: Captain Swan: Emma is a bank teller and Killian just happens to be the man robbing her bank one day. Possibly using Emma as a hostage/person he makes open the safe?**

* * *

The last of the customers languidly drifted out of the building as closing time finally arrived, and Emma let out a pent up sigh of relief. Finally, things could slow down and she could catch her breath, maybe get some dinner while she was at it.

She was about to close down her window when she saw a lone figure saunter in, tall and lean in a black overcoat. She sighed and leaned against the counter, annoyance bubbling as she drummed her fingers impatiently.

"Hello, love. You are the only window left open and the only employee here I presume?"

Her gaze snapped up and she found herself staring into ocean blue eyes, her eyes raking over the dark, defined features of the customer's face. Her breath caught.

"H—How can I help you sir?" she tried her best to maintain her earlier annoyance at his appearance.

He gave her a winning smile, "Well for starters… you could take me to the safe."

She froze when he pulled out a gun and snapped the safety back, pointing it directly in between her eyes with a still kind expression. He swiftly crossed behind the counter and held the gun to her head.

"I'd suggest you start walking me over there, lass. I am not known to be the most patient man."

She spat, "You're a fucking pirate."

"Actually" he chuckled darkly, "I prefer Killian."

Emma led him over to the back room where the large safe was and gritted her teeth when he tapped the cold muzzle of the barrel to her head. She began to twist the combination lock, feeling his breath raise hairs on the back of her neck. They made her shiver, they made her blood boil.

Suddenly she whipped around and aimed a punch at his nose, feeling the crunch beneath her knuckles as blood slipped down his upper lip and he staggered backwards. Leg shooting out, she kicked him in the shin, knocking him off his feet and the gun from his hand.

She quickly straddled him and pinned his arms above his head, grinning victoriously, "You're move_ Killian_."

He glared, blood still flowing from his nose, "Alright love, you bested me. Now what?"

She smirked, "Ask the police when they get here."


	6. Captain Swan Prompt 2

**Prompt: 1. Captain Swan 2. She's a pirate. He's a prince. Chaos ensues when she and her crew raid his castle.**

* * *

"My Prince!." Killian heard his squire shout from the doorway as he staggered into the room, "The attack is relentless! The pirates are scaling the ramparts!"

"Interesting." he stared unimpressed at the frazzled boy before him, "And this is of great worry how?"

The boy's eyes widened, "My _lord._ That woman will kill us all! Plunder our cities! Her crew will destroy everything!"

"Do you sincerely believe that we cannot handle one motley band of raiders?" he rolled his eyes and adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves, "I say we welcome whoever this fearsome captain is in for a civil chat."

There was a whizzing sound and an arrow tip buried itself in the boy's neck. Killian watched him sink to the ground with a gurgle as blood spilled over the clean marble floor.

"Look's like you got your wish, Prince. I'm here! Let's _chat_." the voice was a woman's, lazy and short.

He turned to find before him a woman completely dressed in leather, hugging her curves with a plunging neckline. Her long blond tresses dripped like molten silver over her shoulders. What surprised him slightly was the absence of one of her hands, instead in its place a smooth metal hook. She notched and arrow and aimed it at him with a pert lipped smirk.

"And what brings you to my castle today Captain?" he smiled alluringly.

She scoffed, "Why else would a pirate invade a place? Gold. Jewels. Anything that can buy me rum."

"Was it necessary to see me then?" he laughed, "I would have believed it easier for you to simply kill me. Go on, lass. I'm defenseless."

She stared at him, "No you're more valuable to me alive than dead."

"_Oh. _So you're here to kidnap me." he walked over to her and pushed the bow down, "Please do so. God knows I need a fast way out. And definitely would not mind someone as pretty as you to come steal me away."

She raised an eyebrow, "You're really in a hurry to leave."

He sighed, exasperated, "I'm betrothed of course I am my dear."

He breathed in her ear, "Maybe I want a little adventure. A little danger."

She caught him by the front of his shirt with her hook, dragging him inches from her face, "You'll have to be my little pet then your highness." Her smirk made something burn in his chest.

"I'm all yours. Killian Jones at your service."

She snorted and released him, making her way to the window, "I still can't understand why you'd want to leave a fairytale wedding behind."

He laughed, "Rest assured darling, I've barely met you and you already outrank her in my book. Ah yes Captain, do you have a name?"

"What's it to you?"

"Well someone will have to know who stole me away! Oh the stories they will tell, lass."

"Emma Swan."

He smiled widely and started after her, "Ah yes, I chose the Swan girl—Emma."


	7. Captain Swan Prompt 3

**Prompt: Captain Swan: Hook tries to tell Emma he loves her, but she can't believe him. She runs away and he has to go and find.**

* * *

"Emma."

She stared at him, the sounds of his voice slightly distorted and muffled as she heard her heart racing in her ears. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his eyes. They shattered in crystalline facets of shallow seafoam that crashed to the shore.

She couldn't hear her own thoughts. Her instinct told her run. Run Now.

_Emma kill me now. Please end it. I don't know who I am anymore. I haven't…. not since I met you. Not since I realized I love you._

Oh she had heard loud and clear what he had said. She didn't want to be the reason. She didn't want another reason to trust someone else. It wasn't her responsibility to hold someone's life in her hands. It wasn't her responsibility to shoulder his dark, passionate love. It wasn't her responsibility to love him back.

But she'd taken on every single one of those things from the moment she'd brought him back to storybrooke.

And now Gold was gone. And Killian was stranded.

_Kill me now…. I love you…_

So she ran. She tore out of that god forsaken pawn shop and up the street, tears stinging down her cheeks as she tried to swallow past the hard lump in her throat. She only got halfway down the street when she fell to her knees and shook with sobs.

And he was suddenly around her, arms tight forehead pressed to hers. And he was repeating it over and over and over. He was praying. He was begging. He was trying to ram it again and again against the worlds that divided them until he somehow managed to merge them. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in the smell of ocean and rum until she was drunk on reasonless pain and him.

"I love you. Emma I love you I bloody fucking love you. I'm torn Emma. I don't know what I've been living for anymore. I can't—"

She opened her eyes and saw that same shoreline blue again, but this time there was the cleanness of salt water unwillingly spilling over. Blurring the ring of blue.

"I— love you too Killian." she collapsed against him and let him crush her to his chest.

He laughed, slight hysteria in the tone.

"It's about bloody fucking time."


	8. Captain Swan Prompt 4

**Prompt:** **After the curse is broken and all the characters are successfully back in Fairytale Land, Emma asks Hook to take her on a boat trip because she's never been sailing**. [source: otherearthly (aka its-about-bloody-time)]

"Okay. So how do I do this?" She shielded a hand with her eyes and stared out over the emerald facets of water that caught the afternoon sun.

Killian laughed and extended a hand, "Well for starters, love, you can get into the boat."

She glared at him playfully and accepted the extended hand, stepping into the small sailboat and sitting down.

He sighed, "These tiny little dinghies. Your world is so deprived my dear. Where are the huge ships, the massive wooden sterns—?"

She laughed, "The pirate ships? Hate to break it to you but we don't have stuff like that here."

"Alright well tell me you've at least done this before?" he began tying the correct knots to secure the boom.

"Nope." she smiled, "That's why I'm counting on you to know what you're doing."

"And what if I don't? What if we get lost at sea, love?" he pulled her close, kissing her forehead.

"You'd be a pretty shit Captain then, Killian." she pressed her lips to his feeling him smile under the contact.

He pulled away, "Well then you'll have to be my skipper. It's a demanding position, you're basically steering."

He kicked them off and a small wind pulled the main sail taut, already pushing them away from the dock and towards the expanse of seawater and sky. She watched them cut through the water, leaving a wake of sea foam. Emma watched him grab the mast and lean outward, wind pushing his hair back as he smiled with an exhilerated expression.

She spoke quietly, "I trust you."

He turned around with a surprised expression, then smiled widely, "I'll bring you back home safe, lass."


	9. Response: Queen of Hearts Sneak Peek

"You know, thinking back on when we first met, I admired you." He adjusted his hook, and taking in his surroundings. They made it. It was surreal to be in this other world, disconcerting with cold dread dragging down his limbs.

"What? For what?" she helped Snow White up and walked over to him. He noted the other women rushed away and wondered why she didn't do the same.

"For distrusting me. That was the smartest thing you could have done. Anyone could have done truly."

She smirked, sitting on the curb in front of Granny's with him, "Newsflash but you really don't look like a saint. The whole pirate thing doesn't help either. So you really shouldn't be surprised."

He chuckled and turned to catch her gaze, "You were the first not to fall for it. And I had to try something different for a change, so suddenly I'm the hero."

"That was my instincts. Otherwise I'd probably fall for it also."

"I doubt it. You might even be playing a trick on me, making me almost believe I can be redeemed."

Her eyebrows knitted together, "So… what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're rather unique Emma Swan."

She stood and faced him, just staring for a minute with an unreadable expression. She extended a hand, "Hey, let's figure out what we're doing with you. Get you a place to stay and all."

"Your place is not an option, love?"

"Dream on Hook."


	10. Time

He stepped out of the portal, falling to his hands and knees as he barked a short shout of victory. He made it. He made it, finally after all this time just searching for a way, wallowing in the virtual impossibility of it all.

He flipped around and found himself alone, suddenly aware that Emma wasn't behind him.

"Emma?!" he called and started forward with a flash of dread when she suddenly stepped through just as the swirling purple oval disappeared behind her.

"Lass there you are! I was beginning to think I had to celebrate alone." he smiled widely, but slowly the playfulness dissolved into slow, burning dread as she staggered forwards.

He caught her in his arms as she knocked them both to the ground, pulling his hand away to find it crimson. Gathering her close, he pulled aside her jacket with his hook and felt fear freeze in his veins when he saw the gruesome hole blown clean through her side. Her pants fast as she sucked in breath raggedly and hands clawing against his chest.

"EMMA. EMM—"

He struggled to hold her upright and press hard on her side to stop the bleeding but her hand was hard on his cheek, forcing him to stop and look at her.

"Stop. It's okay." something resigned burned molten in her eyes.

Something that told him there was nothing left to save.

He choked on his breath and felt the air squeezed out of his lungs, suffocating him.

"I won't let you stop me— I can't. You can't!" he was pleading with her, desperate. If she would just listen. If she could please just god damn listen and not be so bloody stubborn.

"I won't let you Emma. I love… I can't lose again I'm bloody begging you. I CAN'T LOSE YOU. I CAN'T…" he had to wake up. This was a recurring nightmare he'd kept from her several times when he woke howling her name. This time shouldn't be different. It was just another nightmare.

"You're forbidding me to die Killian?" she gasped in pain as she clutched his forearm painfully, "Ha- I'll try for you okay— can't— can't promise you anything."

She cried out sharply, muffling the sound in his chest as she buried her face in the front of his shirt. She was inhaling deeply, rocking slightly because he shook as he tightened his arms around her shoulders, filling the caverns in his chest.

It burned. The hot trails of moisture across his face, the loss. The black loss that consumed him. He had no hatred left to light the darkness. The light had gone out of him.

He held her and rocked her like a small child, listening to her ragged breath and her quiet sobs of pain. He wouldn't take his eyes off of hers, staring hard at the blue. Seeing only blue. No fucking scarlet or haunting black. Serene blue. Ocean and sky blue.

Her hand began to slacken and he held it to his face, begging her incoherently watching the blue in her irises fade to grey.

Her hand dropped to her side as a ghost of a smile graced her lips. He began screaming then, drawing people out of the buildings lining the street. Every cracking sound was her name, bellowed again and again until he was reduced to silent tears.

He pressed his forehead to hers and held her. Close, she was still warm. Her blood still pooled around them. His tears on her cheeks and his, his lips pressed to the corner of her mouth.

Their story had only just begun, and she hadn't even the time to say goodbye.

This wasn't Neverland. Time stopped for no one here.


	11. Illusion: A Response To Time

When he finds Rumplestiltskin, the pawn shop is muggy. The air is thick and the clutter even more unnavigable. The man sits patiently behind the counter with a small smile on his face.

He doesn't hear what he says, he only sees the thin lipped smirk form mocking words. He is drawing his dagger. He has no precaution. He's ready for it… either way.

When he lunges, the Crocodile holds up his hand calmly, and a person begins to materialize before him. It takes on her face. He believes it for a painfully relieved second. But he is a liar and this is a lie.

It stalks around him with every would-have-been in her presence, her smile, the way her irises sparked with compassion or adorable anger. There is no faking the voice, the smell of her hair, vanilla.

_He hates her. He's never hated her more in that moment. He can't discern between the heated passionate hate or the burning tortured love._

The illusion calls to him in gentleness, in acceptance, in trust.

_It is too late for trust._

The sight of her alive, he knows her right down to his every white hot nerve ending, chips away at his sanity.

It drives him mad.

The run into Rumplestiltskin's dagger point, the burning kiss of the ignited metal piercing his stomach. It feels like her. It feels like coming home to ocean eyes and her gentle prayer when she says his name. "_Killian_" It tastes like death and her metallic blood on his lips.

_It is a relief when he lets go._


	12. New Years

The streetlights lost their shape in the dark and looked like eerie glowing orbs lining her path home. Emma pulled her sweater tighter around her and adjusted her hold on the glass rectangle of tiramisu under her arm. New years eve. Her head seemed light with one too many glasses of champagne and the warmth of good company and… and family. She felt oddly whole, like things fell into place. Like a fairytale.

_Fifteen minutes to midnight_.

But walking down the street back to her house she had time to fill her head with thoughts that she liked to block out in order to fully enjoy herself. Fill her head with people… A person. She could almost smell brine and cold sea water. The sharpness of rum. Who gave a damn who she thought of now, in the dark alone, on the verge of a new beginning… with people she cared about. She could throw her guard to the wind, let a few tears fall for everything that she didn't have. Every almost, could-have-been.

_Ten minutes to midnight._

She rounded the corner, her house in sight, the only one dark on the street with no one home. It was strange to suddenly feel so alone though she was surrounded by people she'd be willing to die for. She stood across the street, staring at the front door and wondering if she should just let the rest of the year slip away without ceremony. Emma sighed and closed her eyes, almost feeling his arms around her waist, the sureness of his chest at her back.

_Five minutes to midnight._

She… did feel something at her back. She _was_ warm. She whipped around and was greeted with stormy eyes. The kind that made her dizzy and afraid. She pulled back.

"Emma."

She frowned and turned her back, stalking into the middle of the street only to feel his hand at her wrist. His eyes were soft.

"Look at me."

She kept her eyes turned to the ground stubbornly.

"Please?"

_H—how many minutes till midnight?_

He pulled her close and held her there, his hook almost uncomfortably pressed into her back. But she couldn't find it in her to complain. His breath rustled the hair by her ear slightly and he murmured something she didn't quite catch.

"Did you hear me?"

She shook her head and leaned backward slightly to study him. His stubble had grown out a little more since she'd last saw him, his face had taken a weathered look to it.

"I said I'm glad you didn't try to attack me."

She rolled her eyes, "Maybe I'm drunk, Hook."

He chuckled and brushed his hand over her cheek, "If that's the case, I'm not trying to take advantage of you… alright, love?"

He stopped her reply with a gentle kiss and she leaned into his warmth gratefully. To her dissatisfaction he pulled back and placed his lips at her ear.

The whisper was breathy, and weighted, "I'm sorry."

And she held his face in her hands and stared him down. Then threw her arms around his neck and crushed her mouth to his fiercely.

_Maybe midnight came, maybe it didn't. It didn't matter as he kissed her with conviction._

Tick Tock.


	13. Nothing to Live For

"I'VE GOT NOTHING TO LIVE FOR EMMA." he looked like a caged animal, standing in the middle of the hospital room, blood dripping from his fingertips as it slid down his arm, IV line hastily yanked out.

"Shut up Hook." she felt something breaking inside her.

"You might. as well. hand me that fucking gun." his voice was low and deadly as he stalked up to her, "Better yet, put it to my head yourself. I know you bloody want to. I know you hate me for conspiring with Cora."

She stared straight into his blue eyes, the light in them glinting with desperate madness, "I said shut. up."

He laughed hysterically, grabbing her arms and pushing her backwards against the wall. Slamming her back so that the cart on the other side of the room rattled with the vibrations.

"I should have died and you had to bloody fucking save me." his voice was defeated, close to a sob, "I've got nothing. No one."

He yanked the gun out of its holster at her hip and shoved it to his head. He clicked the safety back and hesitated for a moment, just long enough to shove her hand into his and push the barrel to the ceiling as it went off.

Bits of white plaster rained around them as she slapped him as hard as she could. He dropped the gun and staggered backwards several steps.

"I SAID SHUT UP." she was breathing hard, aware of the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I'm looking out for you wether you like it or not." her tone was hard and cold but genuine, "And mark my words Killian Jones, I'm going to make sure you live through this, even if I have to save you from yourself."


	14. To Live

This was so much worse.

Gods this was like being ripped in two, his chest searing and straining as if threatening to tear away from his body and remove the pain. His vision flickered in and out nauseatingly, the swirl of the night sky above him a thick soup of light and color.

When he'd lost his hand he felt numb. He had lost the ability to feel, to even acknowledge he was numb. And that situation had emotional repercussions.

But this. No one prepared him for this kind of pain.

Where was hell now. Where was the end and why didn't it come sooner.

Something he forgot to do was keeping him around. Someone he forgot to see. Someone—

And then he heard her.

Forcing his eyes open, he saw the blue in her irises first. Fear, disgust… concern? He blinked but she blurred and he fought to focus his vision again. He reached for her hand instinctually and found it resting lightly on his chest. The burning sensation intensified.

Beautiful. She really was beautiful, with a frown and a crinkled brow. And relief washed through him like cool seawater.

"Hey beautiful. I didn't think you'd notice—AH"

Pain at his side. Agonizing pain, but this time he was able to suppress it easily. Something charged spiked down his spine and laced together his consciousness, keeping it steady. She had a hand on chest and concern in her eyes. She muttered something frustratedly about broken ribs.

He couldn't help but smile. That happened to be a mistake, as he convulsed when he attempted the action.

"Ah— that must be why it hurts when I laugh."

She rolled her eyes and stared him down.

A hand on his chest, concern in her eyes. And she was beautiful.

And then he decided he wanted to live.


	15. Save Him

Emma jumped out of her car frantically, running into the hospital with David at her side as they pushed into the lobby, squinting when the glare of hospital lights assaulted her vision. A struggling Belle was hysterically pushed past her and she roughly staggered back, jerked aside by the incoming tide of people. Something hard grazed her hip and she whipped her head around.

* * *

_She spotted him right off, groaning on the side of the road. Something buzzed in the back of her mind that pushed relief into her limbs. Thankfully he was alive._

_He wouldn't receive her well after their last encounter._

_He was so broken. Pitiful… but he was…reaching towards her. She should have ignored him for all the shit he'd caused. Belle lying bleeding on the road. But she walked briskly over and the sight of the copious blood, mixing with dirt and rain, made her stomach uneasy._

_The bastard. Did he have some kind of death wish? Going after Gold like that? Did he want that badly to die? This wasn't the cocky man atop the beanstalk. _

_He'd definitely broken a few ribs._

_Still shooting his mouth off, still toying with her, but his face relaxed when she knelt by his side, the only color in his eyes glinting with a… pleased light. _

_Then she pushed her hand hard against his side and felt him howl mid sentence. _

_That was for calling her beautiful._

_But thankfully he was alive._

* * *

Hook was pushed past her, blood still streaming down his temple from where Gold's boot had dug itself in. She felt panic suddenly bubble up her throat and shape itself into words. He was in danger even here.

Rapidly scanning her surroundings for the deranged man, she quickly grabbed the closest nurse's wrist and forced her attention.

"HIDE HIM."

Two words as she continually glanced back at Hook's retreating form towards the back rooms of the hospital. The woman in front of her gave only gave her a startled expression and she cursed under her breath impatiently.

"Find him a room, and _HIDE_ him."

Keep him safe. Don't let him die on me now.

_Make sure I can find him_.

The nurse nodded just as Emma heard the tapping of a cane at the hospital entrance. Her head snapped behind her and she let out a breath once she saw that Hook had safely made it out of sight.

She straightened up and went to face Gold.

_Save him from himself._


	16. Every Minute I'm Here

"Every minute I'm here… is a minute closer to me killing Hook."

She froze. Every muscle in her body coiled for attack and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Killing Hook.

She didn't know how to react, whether to shoot back a nasty comment or brush it off. She wanted to look back at her parents but feared that if she took her eyes of Gold, as irrational as it was, something awful would happen.

He deserved it, she knew. He nearly killed Belle, erased her memory, brought Cora to Storybrooke.

That was wrong. Killing him was still murder. Either of them going at it was threatening the safety of the town.

She remembered that she had wanted him dead before. An inconvenience to her. A threat.

She couldn't hold his eye contact and looked down, waiting to hear him push another point, take her mind off the broken man in the hospital handcuffed to his bed. She basically offered him no escape, to flee… or to protect himself.

If he died it was her fault.

As sheriff, any type of life taken under her watch meant she wasn't doing her job. But refusing Gold right then and there guaranteed somone's life in jeopardy… his life in jeopardy.

_Killing him would hurt her most of all._


	17. Hands

He didn't remember reaching. A lot of blurring, but no reaching.

But suddenly she was at his side, hands extended forward as if she was reaching right back. Her eyes were frightened and her mouth turned downward in a familiar contrary frown. He'd seen that expression too often, mostly directed at him. But it was a comfort and a lifeline through the pain.

He focused on her lips, frowning words that sounded like half stutter but unable to concentrate. Something rough at his side and he let out a howl.

And then he did remember reaching. His good hand searching for something to hold onto. An anchor. Something secure that he could rely on.

That he could trust would remain.

And then he felt soft leather dotted by droplets of rain. It was warm from her skin and easy to the touch and he relaxed slightly focusing on the solidity beneath his fingertips.

He grapsed it tightly, wrapping his hand around the gloved palm, feeling her fingers curl into his touch a fraction at the contact.

_He held her touch to him so that she couldn't slip away again._


	18. Jello

**So according to the podcast for 2x12:** _**"There was a really great scene that got cut because of time but it was in the middle of all this chaos, Captain Hook comes out and he goes, "what the hells is this?" and it was jello because he had never seen it before. And it was just him experiencing hospital jello. But alas it did not make the cut. Hopefully for the DVD."**_

Emma felt the circle of people around her staring intently at the silent phone, as if willing it not to ring again. The tension in the air was thick, David and Mary Margaret whispering quietly to one another across from her, Red staring intently at the door, and Leroy fuming at the dismissal of his idea to kill the outsider.

She needed some air and so, dropping the cellphone in David's lap, Emma walked away from the smothering group and walked down the hallway to clear her head. The paranoia was exhausting and so she let herself mull over thoughts she'd repressed thus far.

How she had walked over and knelt at his side. His hand tightening around hers. His groans of pain and the sound of Gold's strike coming into contact with his head. The half broken smile laced with the delirious slur of pain.

All she wanted to remember was the sound of rain. Block out the sound of sirens, her panicked demands as they wheeled him away. Shut out his sarcastic innuendos and his slightly tender smile.

And then she nearly ran headfirst into someone, stopping just short of the person with a half shouted apology slipping out.

She cut off her sentence when she saw who it was, slightly confused at the strange expression on his face.

"Um… Hook." she said, not moving though she was nearly pressed against his chest.

"Thank god it's you."

"Me?" she raised an eyebrow and retreated slightly, "And why the hell are you wandering around?! There's a REASON why I stuck you in a room that Gold doesn't know about."

He shook his head and his expression darkened, "Then you'll explain the reason for this strange object amongst my food?"

Her eyes finally fell on his outstretched hand, a small bowl of cherry colored jello resting on his palm.

She bit her lip so hard it drew blood, trying her best not to laugh.

"Swan, stop playing games what the HELL is this thing?"

She grabbed the bowl and popped a piece into her mouth, watching the shock cross his face as she chewed and swallowed. She allowed herself a snort of amusement at the utter bewilderment on his face.

"This, is called jello. And it's delicious" she picked up another piece, "Did you think it was poison of some sort?" She wiggled her fingers and smirked, "Witchcraft maybe? Have a taste, you might turn into a frog."

His surprise quickly dissolved into a mischievous smirk. Pulling her into him suddenly with his face inches from hers, he murmured, "Maybe I could have a taste, that looked like a suitable morsel to share."

She pushed the bowl in between them and yanked herself away, glowering at his victorious smile. Turning around she heard him laugh to himself,

"Gel-Oh. Hm. I think I quite like it."


	19. What Were You Like as a Kid?

"What were you like as a kid?" her eyes lightened curiously.

Her visits came regularly, showing up after her shift at the station to stop by for an hour or two and help him pass the dreadful hours confined to the bland hospital room. He was cruelly snide about them in the beginning, but nonetheless welcomed the company. It allowed him to pretend that he wasn't alone.

"Oh no, Swan. We are not going there." he rolled his eyes at her piqued interest, "I do not do back story, lest you might tell me yours and I become entangled in quite a mess."

She shook her head with his favorite dry smirk, leaning back against her chair and staring at him patiently, "Not even a little bit?"

He wiggled his eyebrows, "Interested are we, love?"

She scoffed, "Hardly."

He allowed himself a small smile at her poorly feigned indifference, "I was a small child. Headstrong and free-spirited with a knack for manipulation. I couldn't be contained."

He nearly laughed when he'd seen her lean forward slightly at his description, her silvery-blond hair framing her face like a soft halo.

He cleared his throat, "I was good at putting up a tough front. My mother's death had been… trying."

When he saw her expression, he sighed, "Don't take pity on me. I don't want it." His tone had hardened.

Slowly, he watched her stand with a strange look on her face, her eyes never leaving him.

"I think its time for me to go." she edged towards the door but paused, "Thanks for telling me Hook."

He smirked confidently, "Anything to keep you coming to visit, love. It gets so infuriatingly dull here."

She offered him a half smile, that odd look still ghosting in her eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He could have sworn he saw her care. Even if for a brief moment.

And he was oddly comforted by that.


	20. Afternoon Naps

"Mom! I'm home from school!" Henry pushed the door open and made toward the stairs quickly, ready to jump up them two at a time and see how fast he could make it to the top. But as he skipped up the first two steps, he stopped when something caught his eye through the thin metal frame of the staircase rail.

_Emma unclipped her badge from her hip and tossed it onto the end table, falling unceremoniously onto the couch with a growl of release. It had been a hell of a long day, Archie losing Pongo (again), Red paying for the damage she caused when she went wolf through someone's flowerbeds, Leroy starting yet another fight in the bar. She leaned her head back, kicked her shoes off and propped her feet up on the table and stared at the ceiling, trying to loosen her tight muscles and relax. _

_There was a sudden bang and she jumped, eyes snapping open to find Hook hanging his coat up by the door and strolling in lazily._

_"Do you know how to knock?" She growled, mood immediately soured at his easy smirk._

_"Touchy today aren't we, lass?" he chuckled and made his way over, sitting beside her, "Your mother sent me here to return this." He handed her the notorious compass that they had nearly fought for to the death. _

_ "And she couldn't have given this to me herself?" she rolled her eyes and reassumed her original position, looping the gold chain around her neck for the time being._

_He snorted, "And risk a chance to mock me? I hardly think she wold pass that up."_

_"Well, in that case you're good to go." she shifted slightly away from him, "I'm exhausted Hook. I'm not going to be great company."_

_"Then you'll have to make due with mine," he smiled impishly, "I find staying at Granny's infuriatingly dull and I'd rather make due here."_

_And do what?" she closed her eyes and heard him flick on the TV._

_ "Watch your picture box, read, whatever suits my fancy." she felt him readjust himself so that he was once again close to her but she was too tired to care._

_ "I feel like arguing is pointless." she sighed._

_ She could hear the smile in his voice, "Too right lass."_

_The warmth was pleasant as she dropped off to sleep._

Henry backtracked and walked into the living room, finding himself staring at his mother and Captain Hook sitting on the couch. Her head was fitted softly in the curve of his neck on his shoulder and he had his cheek resting on the top of her head.

Henry realized the were fast asleep, noticing that his mother was wearing the pretty golden compass that she had stolen from the giant's lair to get back to him. Tilting his head slightly, Henry noticed the needle was pointed towards the Captain. That was sort of funny.

As quietly as he could, he ran upstairs and snatched the blanket off of his mother's bed, dragging it back down to the living room. Tiptoeing forward, he gingerly arranged the soft fabric around the two of them and had to pause when his mother stirred slightly and curled into Captain Hook's side.

Once he had finished the job, he appraised his handiwork and decided that he had done well. Then crept upstairs to start his homework.

He liked the way his mom had looked with the Captain. It was like having two parents together…then he shook off the thought and decided he'd wake them up for dinner.


End file.
